David Jones, artist and poet (1895-1974) begins his PREFACE TO THE ANATHEMATA :

'I have made a heap of all that I could find.' (1) So wrote Nennius, or whoever composed the introductory matter to Historia Brittonum. He speaks of an 'inward wound' which was caused by the fear that certain things dear to him 'should be like smoke dissipated'. Further, he says, 'not trusting my own learning, which is none at all, but partly from writings and monuments of the ancient inhabitants of Britain, partly from the annals of the Romans and the chronicles of the sacred fathers, Isidore, Hieronymous, Prosper, Eusebius and from the histories of the Scots and Saxons although our enemies . . . I have lispingly put together this . . . about past transactions, that [this material] might not be trodden under foot'. (2)

(1) The actual words are coacervavi omne quod inveni, and occur in Prologue 2 to the Historia.(2) Quoted from the translation of Prologue 1. See The Works of Gildas and Nennius, J.A.Giles, London 1841.

10 March 2013

As the Chinese Government bullies and buys (with iron ore in Australia, and by its influence on the overall world economy) silence and international compliance, their repression of the Tibetan people and culture continues apace.

As does the horror of the Tibetan protest response. Since 2009 there have been 107 Tibetan self- immolations in protest against the Chinese occupation.

Today, March 10 is observed asTibetan Uprising Day, to commemorate the 1959 Tibetan uprising and to focus upon the continuing repressive presence of the People's Republic of China in Tibet.

Several days ago, ABC (Australia) journalist Stephen McDonell asked a question about the situation in Tibet at a public forum of the Chinese Parliament. This is the response, as recorded at the ABC Latelinewebsite: clickhere to seen Lateline broadcast

Chinese Government officials have launched a blistering attack
on the Dalai Lama and his allies, accusing them of orchestrating the
wave of self-immolation suicides in the west of the country.

Transcript

TONY JONES, PRESENTER: The Chinese Government's officials have
launched a blistering attack on the Dalai Lama and his allies, accusing
them of orchestrating the wave of self-immolation suicides in the west
of the country.

Speaking at the National People's Congress, a
leader from Sichuan Province also blamed the foreign media for drawing
attention to the pro-Tibet protests.

Earlier this week, China
sentenced three Tibetan monks to between 10 and 15 years in jail for
supposedly inciting self-immolation protests.

China
correspondent Stephen McDonell was at the Great Hall of the People in
Beijing today, and a warning: this story contains disturbing images.

STEPHEN MCDONELL, REPORTER: The vast ethnic Tibetan regions in Western China are thousands of kilometres from Beijing.

Many
Tibetans there want independence and over the past two years more than
100 have set themselves on fire to try and achieve it. They're mostly
monks and the largest group come from Sichuan Province. So when the
Sichuan delegation to the National People's Congress met, the ABC asked
them why it is that in recent months the self-immolations have
continued.

ZHANG DONGSHENG, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, SICHUAN PEOPLE'S
CONGRESS (voiceover translation): You ask why these things keep
happening, well it's linked to our long and fierce battle with the Dalai
Lama clique.STEPHEN MCDONELL: These powerful Communist Party
officials were impressed by the rousing attack on the Dalai Lama from
their colleague.

ZHANG DONGSHENG (voiceover translation):
Self-immolation is neither advocated nor permitted by Tibetan Buddhist
teaching. Self-immolation is a sin. So I wonder how they learnt to do
it. The Dalai clique taught them, for sure.

STEPHEN MCDONELL:
With Tibetans still killing themselves in protest at Chinese government
rule, this issue remains a constant source of embarrassment for the
administration here. But the line it's worked out is that this is all
the fault of outsiders - the Dalai Lama, his government in exile and now
also foreign journalists.

ZHANG DONGSHENG (voiceover
translation): When these things have happened, they've been hyped up by
the foreign media and are used by enemy forces overseas to attack our
party and our government.

STEPHEN MCDONELL: There's clearly no
sign that Beijing is open to dialogue on this issue. Instead, the
government has responded with a massive security crackdown in western
regions.

- Stephen McDonell, Lateline.

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